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Psychopathology: A Simple Twist of Fate or a Meaningful Distortion of Normal Development? Toward an Etiologically Based Alternative for the DSM Approach

2007; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 26; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/07351690701310599

1940-9133

Patrick Luyten,

Personality Disorders and Psychopathology

Abstract In this comment, I focus on a central issue that spans the entirety of Sidney Blatt's research career, namely his contributions to the development of a theoretically consistent and clinically relevant classification system of psychopathology. First, I discuss empirical evidence concerning the key assumptions underlying the currently dominant classification system of mental disorders, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). Second, I compare these assumptions with assumptions underlying Blatt's categorization of psychopathology based on his distinction between two developmental lines, that is, self-definition and relatedness, together with a discussion of recent research on these two developmental lines in the context of the development of a more etiologically based classification system of depression and other disorders. Finally, I argue that research concerning Blatt's model of normal and pathological development—aside from direct contributions—may also inform empirically derived criteria for the development of a theoretically consistent and clinically useful way of classifying psychopathology.